Home
by This Charade
Summary: Their journey over, the heroes return home, but coming home is, in a way, a journey in itself. Takes place after KH2. Some innocent SoraxKairi. Rated to be safe.
1. Final Threshold

**A/N:** This story is finally ready to be posted. Enjoy

**Disclaimer:** I own many KH products, but the rights to none of them.

* * *

**Home**

_Chapter One:_ Final Threshold

It was already sunset as they watched the gummi ship Chip and Dale brought disappear in the distance. The three of them stood together, alone for the first time. There was silence except for the gentle hush of the tide lapping against the shores of their island paradise, their home.

It was Sora who spoke first. "We made it. We really made it." His voice was quiet and mostly to himself. Still the other two heard and nodded in agreement. Then there was silence again broken only by Riku's deep sigh. One by one they sat down, Sora first, then Kairi, and finally Riku. The water lapped at their feet and, for once, there was peace.

They sat like that and watched the sun sink beyond the horizon, now knowing where the horizon led, and, at least for the time being, were content to leave it at that. "We should get back. Your parents," Kairi paused. "They miss you."

"No," Riku spoke for the first time since the ship had departed. "Not tonight. I don't think I'm ready to go back tonight." Sora sighed in agreement. The silvery-haired boy dug his fingers into the cool sand and continued. "Besides, there's so much you need to tell us before we go back, Kairi. Plus, what will we say? How will we explain everything?"

"Good point." Kairi mumbled mostly to herself. They all sat pondering an answer. Sora yawned, Kairi giggled, and Riku smiled.

"There's no way we can tell the truth." Sora said.

"Definitely not." Riku looked up from the sand. "This world has to stay oblivious to any other worlds out there. We have to protect the border between the worlds at all costs." Sora nodded.

"We're going to have to explain the new clothes, abilities, and strength somehow. Unless we somehow pretend our sparring skills didn't improve at all fighting all those Heartless and Nobodies..." Sora's voice trailed off.

"No, that'll be too hard to keep up." Kairi jumped into the conversation. "I know this sounds a bit far-fetched, but you two could just claim amnesia, like you forgot the whole thing. That's what I plan on telling my father, though I guess it's a little more believable for me, huh?"

"You're right, Kairi. That's the only way to do it. We have to pretend like we don't remember what happened at all, no matter what people ask. We have to deny we know anything. It just happened and we woke up back here. No matter how hard it is, Sora, we can't tell anyone anything, not even a lie. This way our stories will always match up, too." Riku stood up brushing the sand off. "It's getting chilly."

The three decided to relocate to the tree house at the top of the island fort. They used to have sleepovers there every once in a while. Riku spotted a cloth that was tied up as a rope down from a higher platform. He told the other two to go ahead while he retrieved it so they'd have something to use as a blanket. With a smile and a nod Sora and Kairi raced to the top of the wooden path. It was no contest and Sora stood waiting with his arms crossed in jest as Kairi made her way towards him. Riku watched all this with a small grin.

When they were inside, Riku's expression changed. His face contorted in pain and he collapsed one knee to the sand. The pain from Xemnas's final blow shot up through his lower back and down his left leg. He gritted his teeth. This was a happy day. He wasn't going to let the pain interfere with that. Slowly but surely he made his way to the cloth and managed to pull it down. He untied it and joined his friends in the tree house.

They lay there in silence for some time, all three of them in a row, Kairi, Sora, and Riku, underneath the cloth that the oldest of the three had found.

Kairi shifted uneasily.

"What is it, Kai?" Sora asked, turning onto his side to face the redhead.

"I should tell you how the rest of the islanders remember..."

"That night." Riku added still facing the wall. "It's okay Kairi."

She hesitated. "They-they call it the Great Disaster. Most of them attribute it to an underwater volcano or something natural, but no one seems to have a good explanation for it. No one seems to remember the Heartless. They remember a thick, tangible darkness. Some say the darkness itself attacked people but most believe it was the animals panicking, shrouded by the dark." She paused, sat up, and looked away. "Some people- some people never came back. Some were even seen...being-"

Riku jumped in before she could get any further. "Let's not talk about that now. What happened, happened. We're here now. That's what matters." She knew how he must have felt hearing all of it, which is why she hesitated. Riku knew that and he didn't want her to have to say any more. He knew he'd find out in due time what he had done. He had never expected this to be easy.

No one spoke for at least ten minutes. The silence covered them like a quilt, broken only by the now synchronized rising and falling of each breath. Again Sora broke the silence with a whispered, "We're home. Really home." No one spoke after that. No one needed too.

Sora was the first to fall asleep. The hero looked remarkably peaceful for someone who went through all that he did. Riku lay there with his eyes half closed watching his best friend's chest rise and fall. He saw Kairi sit up and look over in his direction. He didn't move. Satisfied, she turned to Sora. Her lips formed into a sweet smile and Riku noticed a tear form in her eye. She started to bend over, as if to whisper something in the sleeping boy's ear, or perhaps lay a kiss on his forehead, but thought better of it. "Goodnight," She whispered softly. Riku knew it was not meant for him, but he took comfort in her words nonetheless. That there was someone else there with enough love in them to wish anyone a good night, even if that love was not for him, that was a change for the better.

Kairi was sleeping soon afterwards, leaving Riku staring at the wooden ceiling. For a while he stayed like that, completely still, wondering if by some accident, sleep would find him. He shut his eyes and waited, counting the cricket chirps, but the chirps reminded him of that particular cricket, Jiminy. That in turn lead his mind down a path he had to force his eyes open to escape. He sat up and surveyed his sleeping friends. Their chests rose and fell in perfect unison. Sora's mouth twitched into a smile and Riku could only imagine what the Hero of Light was dreaming about. Carefully he slipped out of the makeshift sheet and stood up. Even as he did, a new shot of pain ran through him. He stumbled for a moment but caught himself on the wall.

Behind him someone stirred. Riku held his breath, anxiously glancing over his shoulder just in time to see a sleeping Sora grab at the cloth that was now available to him. The older teen exhaled slowly. He gently took a small step towards the entrance of the hut. It was painful, but he managed to stay steady. He took a second step, then a third, until he was safely outside. The ocean breeze blew his hair back, and for a moment, he just stood still in relative peace. For a moment, he thought of nothing but the wind and the sea.

Renewed pain brought him out of his second of peacefulness, awakening him once again to everything that lay ahead and everything that had transpired. He limped down the path to the sandy ground. His feet wanted to take him there, to the place he vowed never to enter again, and part of his mind as well as all of his heart pulled him towards it. Before he had time to think through his actions he found himself at the entrance to the secret place. He hesitated at the opening to the dark passage that led to the cave. Dare he enter the place where it all started? Dare he look at the door he had opened so long ago?

Something inside of him eventually won and with a deep breath he entered the darkness. He didn't need to feel his way along the side of the path, he knew each twist of the rock by heart, and soon he was in the moonlit chamber. He averted his eyes from the large door, choosing instead to trace the pictures on the walls. They told stories of imaginary monsters that he had beaten down when he had played the hero. It seemed almost funny now, how many times it had been him who rescued Kairi and Sora from an imaginary foe.

He eventually came upon the picture of his two friends exchanging paupou fruits. A sudden wave of loneliness washed over him. Again he felt the burden of what he had done weigh heavy on his shoulders. He found himself staring at the door. Its edges no longer glowed as they once had. It wasn't a mystery to him anymore but a nightmare.

Riku suddenly felt his keyblade appear in his hand. He willed it to leave but it did not. It wanted to unlock the door, that was its purpose. Frantically he threw the key to the floor. It lay there for one still moment then glistened back into his hand. There was something inside of him that also wanted to unlock that door, to escape, part of him that never wanted to come back to the islands and be trapped in constant reminder of what he had done.

"No," he whispered. "No." He repeated that short word over and over, willing the keyblade to vanish. At long last, it did. Riku sank to the ground. He was exhausted. He hadn't slept in days. He couldn't remember the last time he had let himself slip into sleep willingly. In truth, sleep scared him. He needed so badly to be in control of his body, after all he had been through, sleep was like surrender. He forced himself to his feet and exited the cave without looking back at the door or the picture.

He lay back against the outside of the cave and closed his eyes listening to the soothing sound of the water crashing down from the small waterfall to his left. His mind drifted further and further away, past all that had happened to a time when things were peaceful. He could see Sora giggling and Kairi laughing along side him. He saw himself swinging a wooden sword in a hand that had not yet felt the weight of a keyblade. He wanted so badly to go back to that time, when every day was beautiful and light, but he knew that time was lost forever, so, reluctantly he forced his eyes open and headed for the dock.

Riku sat on the edge of the dock, his legs now long enough that his bare feet were half submerged in the cool clear water. He moved his foot around in circles watching the water ripple under the moonlight. He followed the small crests of water until the vanished. The tide softly hit against his pale skin. He lifted his hands in front of his face and rotated them from palm to back to palm again. They were his own. For too long he had stared at another's hands and had come to terms with the fact that he may never have seen his own again, and now, there they were, right in front of him. It had all happened so fast, so suddenly, and now he was home and he could hardly bring himself to believe it. Mentally he reviewed all that had happened in the past day. It seemed surreal, it all did. But the strangest of all was that after everything he could be sitting here on the dock of their island.

Whether he drifted off to sleep or only deep into his own mind, Riku could not be sure, but soon found himself staring at the deep lavender of dawn. He summoned his keyblade and traced the edges of it with his finger. He rose to his feet with a renewed wave of pain and pointed its tip at the horizon as the pain passed. The Way to Dawn grew clearer as its namesake brightened the sky. Letting the key fall to his side, the silvery-haired boy continued to look out across the sea. When he had named his blade, dawn was a distant idea, a utopian place where he could live at peace with what darkness was inside of him.

He was not sure if he believed in it then, or even now, but it kept him going with every swing of its white tip. Now here he was watching the coming dawn, and he couldn't help wonder if this was where he belonged, home on this island paradise. He stood there in silence, his right hand still gripping the hilt of the key, until he heard faint footsteps behind him. He dropped the blade letting it vanish into the air and turned around to see Kairi exiting the hut she had been sleeping in. She spotted him and waved, nearly skipping down the rest of the ramp. Riku smiled and went over to meet her at the bottom. The two met up and Kairi greeted him a giggle. "Good morning. You're up early." He looked past her.

"Yeah, I guess." His mind was still lost in his own thoughts to a degree. "You didn't sleep very late yourself."

"Well, yea, I got up and saw the sunrise and decided to watch it from the dock. Wanna join me?" Riku nodded. The pair made their way in silence to the edge of the pier, Riku focusing all his energy on preventing the limp that occurred naturally from his damaged side. Kairi sat down and motioned for Riku to join her. He nodded and sat down beside her.

"It's beautiful." Riku found himself saying softly. "After being lost in the darkness for so long, I never thought I'd see the sun rise again." He spoke mostly to himself in a wistful tone.

"Riku..." She placed her small hand on his.

"It's okay, Kai, we're home now." He turned to her and smiled.

She smiled back. "I'm so glad you're home." They both turned out to the sea and watched the sun usher in the new day without a sound between them save for the occasional sigh.

Neither was quite sure how long they sat there in silence. Kairi finally glanced over at Riku. He was still staring at the now mostly risen sun, lost in his thoughts. "We should wake Sora," She said finally breaking the quiet. Riku didn't respond for a few seconds then turned and nodded with a sad smile.

"We have a long day ahead of us," he said in a melancholy tone. The dolefulness in his voice made Kairi uncomfortable. It would only get worse, she thought to herself.

"I'll go get him." Her words rang with fake cheer. Riku saw right through it.

"Whatever it is Kai, don't worry about it. I've been through rougher waters than these islands could ever throw at me." Again he offered a sad grin. Kairi knew differently. She knew also that in his heart, that strong, keyblade-worthy heart, that he knew too that coming home could be harder then finding one's heart in the darkness. Kairi simply nodded, not knowing what to say, then she was off.

Riku didn't let his thoughts wander as he waited for his friends at the dock. That was too depressing. However, his mind was still racing with horrible thoughts, the details of which he pushed from his head. Instead he watched the morning waves. They formed from the formless sea, rising and crashing, moving ever closer to the land, to him. He let the waves hypnotize him into an artificial state of relaxation. He let his bare feet be kissed by the water every time a crest came by the docks edge. It was a cool touch, and for an instant he was reminded of that witch Maleficent's icy fingers. But it was different, and his brain and heart soon accepted that and the sorceress's image faded from his mind.

Sora's yawn broke his best friend's trance. Riku turned his head and smiled. "Good morning, sleepy head." Sora was much too tired to catch the insincerity of Riku's apparent playfulness, but it didn't escape Kairi. She stared right into Riku's eyes, which seemed sunken in due to the heavy black bags that underlined them. He looked away back over the ocean. "Today is the big day, Sora. You ready?" He spoke out to the calming waves as opposed to his friends.

"Yea, I guess I am." He paused. "But how are we going to get back there? Swim?" They were all silent for a moment. Sora brought up a good point. It wasn't like they had left the World That Never Was with boats on their backs.

It was Kairi that spoke first. There was a genuine grin on her face. "I have a surprise for you two."

"What?" Sora asked.

"Follow me."

Riku rose from his seat, ignoring the shot of pain that followed. The redhead looked at both of them, then skipped off towards the seaside shack. Sora and Riku exchanged glances, reaching the tacit agreement that they were too tired to make this into a race.

Kairi lead them to a beach on the other side of the Island. The place sent shudders up Riku's spine. It seemed like forever ago now, that they planned to leave from this very spot. Kairi motioned to the cave on the side. The two boys turned.

"Is that...?" Sora started.

"I saved it. Tidus and Wakka helped me drag it to the cave." Kairi looked down, tracing a sweeping arc with her foot in the sand. Riku was silent. The sight froze him in place, sending a swarm of memories through his head, all playing at once like an overloaded movie projector. He watched as Sora rushed into the cave and pushed the object out. He was more then strong enough to do it on his own now.

Finally, Riku spoke. "Sora, you be captain."

* * *

**A/N: **Well, Did you like it? Love it? Hate it? Let me know in a review. The more reviews, the faster the next chapter will be up.

I want to thank a bunch of people, including Sunpikachu for helping beta, along with others.


	2. Welcome Home

**A/N: **Well, no one reviewed the first chapter, except my lovely beta Sunpikachu, whose edit I made. Maybe I will have more luck with chapter 2. This was actually the first part I wrote. It's a bit shorter. Enjoy.

**Disclaimer:** I own many pieces of Kingdom Hearts merchandise, but the rights to none of it. That honor goes to Squisney

* * *

**Home**

_Chapter Two: _Welcome Home

"Mom, Dad?" He heard footsteps. The door cracked open only slightly.

"R-Riku" A shaky voice emanated from a thin figure within.

"Yeah Mom, I'm home." The door burst open and a woman with beautiful silver hair swung her arms around him, holding him tightly. Riku had forgotten what such a thing felt like. He had been alone for so long. It felt strange to be embraced. When she finally let go she placed her hands on his shoulder, holding him at arms length. For a while she just stared silently at him, tears slowly forming and rolling down her cheeks.

"You look so much like him... You have his eyes." Riku watched a tear fall to the ground.

"Mom..."

"Riku... come inside."

He walked through the doorway. The final threshold. He had been through so many doors; doors of darkness, of deceit, and light, and finally, the door home. His memories found their places among the kitchen cabinets and in between the fibers of the carpet. "This is real..." He whispered to himself. It was not some room of his manipulated memories. He was actually home. The woman led Riku into the living room. The couches, the chairs, it was as if nothing had changed save for a new cover on the sofa.

"Riku, honey... please sit down." Her eyes fleeted from her son to the floor. Her tears stained her cheeks and fell onto her lavender blouse.

"Mom, what's the matter?" Riku sat down. He dreaded the answer even as he spoke. His mother's eyes showed anguish through her joy.

"Riku, there's something I need to tell you. It's best you find out as soon as possible." As she spoke she tried to sound detached. She sat down next to her son. "The night of the Great Disaster... You disappeared, then _it_ came." She cringed slightly.

It, the Darkness. Riku's mind hurled him back to that fateful night. He blinked hard pushing the thoughts out of his head.

"Your father- he did everything he could to protect me and to find you. When he found your boat missing and he ran in to tell me. As he was telling me that he was headed out to find you..." She closed her eyes, forcing a pair of droplets to cascade down her face. "Then... I saw it... It was awful." She opened her eyes and stared directly into his. Her voice once again was laden with fake distance. "You don't need to know the details of it... Riku" Her speech was segmented in a desperate attempt to keep from breaking down. "Your father- died that night." She wrapped her arms around her son and rested her weeping head on his shoulder.

Riku sat still and stunned. He had figured it all out before she had uttered the final words. His face was perfectly frozen as two sat in silence. Riku's lips moved, trying to mouth the words. Finally a harsh whisper escaped his throat. "...My fault."

His mother looked up, her deep blue eyes bloodshot from tears. "No... Riku, don't blame yourself. This would've happened whether or not he went to look for you."

"No. It's my fault." Riku stood, leaving his mother gaping at him from the couch.

"Riku, honey... I know this is hard..."

"No. Mother. It... was all my doing." He turned and headed out of the room.

"Riku..." The woman called after him with a faint whisper, as he turned up the stairs. He hardly noticed the pain in his side as he climbed. He barely paid attention to the house he had been away from for so long. He reached his own room and paused, his hand on the brass doorknob. After a half second of hesitation he turned the knob and went inside, slamming the door behind him and turning the lock. He could hear his mother's footsteps on the stair. Riku put his back to the door and slowly sunk down to the floor. Things were supposed to be better now. They were supposed to go back to the way they were. How could he have been so stupid to have thought for a moment that all he had done would not hit him this close to home.

There was a bang at the door.

"Riku... honey, please." His mother continued to beg. Riku said nothing. "I'm so sorry, I know this is hard, but you can't blame yourself."

Riku fought the urge to yell at her. She knew nothing. _One who knows nothing can understand nothing. _His words flowed through the boy's mind. How true they were. He had never seen it as clearly as he did now. She would never understand. No one here in this utopian world would ever understand. He felt empty and alone, a feeling he hoped he had left behind him, but he never believed it possible to lose. He was alone.

Riku's mother eventually gave up and retreated to her own room. For the rest of the day, Riku did not leave. He had repositioned himself on his bed, which was cut out of the left wall of his room. He had curled into the corner of the mattress and didn't move. His mind was forced back to that faithful night and the day before it.

_Riku woke up before the sunrise that day. He got out of bed and walked out onto the porch outside of his room. The wind blew back the hair from his face and he stared out onto the ocean. Today was the day. The day they were going to set sail for something more then these islands. Filled with anticipation, he did not even try to lie back down. He walked to the edge of the porch and located the rope ladder he had built for this very purpose and lowered himself into the small wooden rowboat he had left waiting for him. He did not bother waking up Sora or Kairi. They would come eventually. He wanted time to himself, anyway._

_He paddled out into the calm morning tide towards the play island. The birds were just waking up and their calls echoed over the expanse of the water. It was peaceful but Riku, try as he might, could not feel at peace. His mind was racing. What was out there? What could they find? As he approached the island he though of the raft they were building. It was almost complete. He was not a fool. He knew the raft could only take them so far, but from there, they would find a way to keep going. This raft was their first step into the unknown, and the first step was what he needed._

_He reached the dock and tied his boat to the pier. With a smooth hop he was on the wooden walkway. He knew where he wanted to go first. He and Sora had been 6 and 5 when they found the Secret Place. It was their place, and no one else ever entered. When Kairi came, Sora had wanted to let her in right away. Riku had been unsure, but eventually gave in._

_It was the home to hundreds of imaginary adventures and the walls told endless stories. He walked through the ivy that covered its entrance and down the narrow dark passage before reaching the oval room that had been his secret playground for so many years. The first purplish rays of morning light could be seen through the small hole at the top of the cave. Riku let his fingers brush against the pictures on the rock walls as he made his way to the wooden planks that formed the door._

_The door was the biggest secret of them all. It had no handle and it seemed to rest right up against something solid as there was no hollow echo when Riku had tried to knock on it. They dared not ask the grown ups about it, so it had remained their secret mystery. Half way to the door, Riku froze. He sensed something, somewhere, though he wasn't sure what or how he could tell it was there. He spun around towards the door then, he paused. The rim around the wood glowed in such a way Riku had never seen before. As he stared, he felt his hand tingle. He looked down and in a flash of light a large key appeared out of nowhere. Riku instinctively dropped the object only to have it reappear in his hand. Then the idea struck him. He had a key, a mysterious key, and in front of him a mysterious door...but where was the keyhole? As he pondered this he heard a low pensive voice that could only be coming from behind the door._

_"At last, princess..."_

_Riku froze. Out of the corner of his eye he could see the key begin to glow the same golden color that outlined the door. Perhaps the key would find its lock on its own. He raised the key and pointed it towards the door. The object was slightly lighter than he had expected. The glow became stronger and suddenly a beam of light shot out from the end the key. The boy watched in awe. As the light died down, he heard the voice again._

_"You have led me true, after all these years, I have found it."_

_A swirl of blackness seemed to emerge from the wooden planks of the door. A figure cloaked in a brown tattered cloth seemed to glide out of the swirling darkness. Its head turned towards Riku._

_"Thank you, keybearer. This world is now connected, tied to the darkness."_

_The figure was from another world, Riku was certain. Hundreds of questions raced around in his mind but one managed to come out. "Darkness...What is this darkness?"_

_"A wise question. You have so very much to learn."_

_Riku bowed his head and started quietly. "I know. That is why I need to leave this island. Teach me, I am ready to learn."_

_The figure seemed to nod. "Smart child. I, like yourself am a seeker of knowledge. The darkness you ask of is the supreme force, the connector of all things, the beginning and end of everything in existence."_

_"The darkness..." Riku looked down and repeated the phrase to himself. When he looked up the man was gone. He stared down at the key that was still in his hand. It glistened, then vanished. For a moment, Riku thought that perhaps he had imaged the figure that he had encountered along with the key, but he looked up at the door, the edges were still glowing. He raced to the wood and pounded on it._

_"Take me with you!" He called through the door hoping the figure world hear his plea. There was no response. Disheartened, he sunk down onto his knees, running the conversation over and over in his head. The world had been connected to the darkness which connects all things, all worlds. Perhaps it was his way out of this paradisaical prison._

_By this point the sky visible through the hole in the top of the cave shone morning light that now came streaming in. Riku got to his feet and went to go check on the raft._

The rest was too agonizing and Riku forced it from his mind the best he could. _I'm not afraid of the darkness._ He could not get his own words out of his head, and it posed a painful question: Was he scared of the dark?

* * *

**A/N:** Same deal, but please review this time. Thanks!


	3. So Glad to See you Again

**A/N: **Installment 3, for your viewing pleasure. Please R&R. Thanks again to Sunpikachu for her beta work.

**Disclaimer:** I'm not going to reveal my fangirl level by listing the KH products I own. Let's just leave it at the fact that I have the RIGHTS to none of them.

* * *

**Home**

_Chapter Three_: So Glad to See you Again

Sora stood on the dock of his home island and took a deep breath. He was home, really and truly home. He scanned the peaceful panorama that was his cradle and playground. Each building and tree seemed too good to be true. Finally, as the last of the purple tint disappeared from the morning sky, Sora took off down the path to his house. At first he tried to take in the scenery, but soon he found himself in a full sprint. Soon enough, the house was in sight. Ecstatic, Sora ran forward at full force. _I'm home_, he kept repeating to himself. _Really home_.

Arriving at the door, he paused. He had awaited this moment, but was so unprepared now that it had arrived. What would he say? He recalled his father's face, then his mother's, soft and calm. Summoning up all his courage he lifted his hand to the door and let if fall in a knock. He heard footstep coming down the stairs at the entrance of the house. The door cracked open.

"Who is it?" His mothers face appeared in the crack. "Oh my... Sora? Is that you? My Sora?" She began to cry.

"Yea, Mom, it's me, I'm home." He was about to cry himself. His mother pushed the door open and nearly dove into him as she extended her arms for a hug. The two embraced, each leaning on the others shoulder.

"This is real." His mother said quietly. Without breaking from the embrace she called upstairs. "Masato! Sora's here, he's really here!"

"Ren, darling, please, don't start this again." Sora, though glad to hear his father's voice, was confused. Start what again?

"No, he really is here this time. Come and see for yourself!" Sora heard footsteps on the stair. He gently broke out of his mothers arms. His father came down the steps and slowly came into view. In his hands he carried a baby that could be no more than a year old. Masato stopped short as his eyes met with his son's.

"Ren, he's really home." His eyes were wider than anyone's Sora had ever seen. The baby tugged on the man's dark brown hair. "Sora, this is your brother, Shouka." He turned to the baby and took another step down the stairs. "Look," He cooed. "It's big brother Sora, he's come home." Shouka giggled and everyone smiled.

The four of them gathered in the den to the right of the entry way. Sora sat in a large cushioned chair opposite his parents, his baby brother resting contentedly on his father's knee. For a long time there was silence. Sora shifted in his seat, for the first time feeling out of place back at home. He forced himself to break the silence. "Can I hold him?" His father nodded and stood up to hand the baby to his son. Sora too stood and the met halfway between the chair and the couch. For a moment their eyes met, and Sora could see genuine relief.

The boy sat down with his little brother in his lap. The baby's warm head rested gently on his brother's forearm. "How old is he?" Sora asked in an attempt at keeping the conversation alive.

"Four months old as of yesterday," Ren said with a hint of pride. Again there was an uneasy quiet. Sora could see there was much that his parents wanted badly to say but did not. He wanted them to speak, to be honest with him, but he didn't know where to start. The baby cooed. "He's beautiful." Sora spoke not knowing what else to say.

"Sora..." His mother began, "where were you all this time, what happened to you?" Tears still streamed down her face.

This was his test. He wanted to tell them everything, about Xehanort's Heartless and the Organization, about Donald and Goofy and the King, but he held back. "I-I don't remember. There was darkness, then I woke up back here, on our island. I'm sorry." He put his head down. He really was sorry, for having to lie like he did to his own parents. But Riku had been right. This was the only way.

"It's okay, son, you're here now, that is all that matters" His dad said moving as if he were unsure whether to get up and hug Sora or stay put.

"You must be hungry." Ren said wiping a tear from her face. "Let's make breakfast. As a family."

Sora had forgotten the taste of his mother's pancakes and the sweetness of her special tropical jam. Sora and his parents sat around the table, his mother nursing his little brother. There was a feeling of distance between him and his parents that Sora tried his hardest to ignore. In their eyes there was something more than relief and love, something sad. He couldn't put his finger on it. He pushed these thoughts to the farthest part of his mind. He didn't want any discomfort. All he wanted were for things to go back to the way they were. Looking at his brother softly sucking the milk from his mother's breast, all he wanted to do was forget the keyblade and go back to being Sora Akashima, a regular teenager. Part of him knew, that deep down, he could never be that again.

The day passed largely in silence. By midday Sora had walked every inch of his house and his yard, filling himself with the memories each step held. He mother never left him alone for too long at a time, always asking if he needed something, wanted something. She was desperate to make up for the time she had missed. Sora understood this, though he still wished for a piece of solitude at times. It was all still so surreal, everything he had been through. The Islands had hardly changed and Sora himself had changed so much. _I just need time, _he kept telling himself.

In the late afternoon fatigue hit him. He smiled to himself. He, the hero of the worlds was more worn out by his own family then by one thousand Heartless. He made his way to his room and touched his bed lightly. He remembered lying there the night of the storm. He remembered the crashing of the waves and the sound of the wind in the air.

He shook his head. This bed held other memories as well, nice ones, peaceful ones, he knew it. He searched his mind frantically for them, but they evaded him. Finally he grasped one. He remembered one day, he must have been ten or eleven, when he was home sick from school. He remembered his mother's cool hand on his forehead and the warmth of the covers over his chilled body. Sora relaxed and sat down on his bed. A tune came floating into his head, a lullaby, the one his mother always used to sing to him. _Go to sleep, my little baby_, it began. _Go to sleep, my little one..._

Sora hummed the tune to himself as he lay down and pulled the covers over his head. Sleep did not take long to come, and with it came a dream.

_Sora found himself falling. It had been over a year since his last visit to the whimsical Wonderland, but now, in his slumber, he was tumbling down the rabbit hole. It was just as he remembered; the circular walls covered in brick surrounding him, adorned with strange pictures, some upside down, others sideways. Only the rabbit hole was longer and it seemed colder somehow._

_He looked more closely at the pictures as he toppled head over heels over head. Just as before, they were a collection of mundane portraits and still-lifes, but something seemed off about each picture, and Sora could not seem to place a finger on what it was. Perhaps the fruits were off center a bit or the nose was a bit to the left. After all, this was Wonderland, right? As he fell, he could not shake the feeling that something was amiss. The rabbit hole became darker and colder still, and the color seemed to fade from the paintings that continued to appear on the walls._

_Sora steadied himself, as best as one can while falling at a constant rate, and clung to a picture of a basket of fruit. It came free of the wall with ease, and even when Sora let go, the painting continued to fall with him. He stared at the colorless illustration and before long the shades of gray seemed to blur and swirl. The shades seemed to be reaching out of their two dimensional plane, towards the brunet. Sora's dream self reached out and touched the canvas. It was as cold as ice. He reached out farther and suddenly he was falling forward, into the image._

_He landed on cool sand and, looking around, he found himself on that same dark beach he had left the day before through the door of light. He spun around expecting to see Riku there, but he was alone. It was then that he heard crying. Instead of a letter in a bottle, his baby brother washed up on shore in what looked to be a mixing bowl. Sora rushed to pick Shouka up and held him close to his own chest. He rocked the child and the wails ceased. Sora looked down at his brother._

_Suddenly he felt a surge of power rip through his body. Sora knew the feeling well enough and he instinctively braced himself to drive. Then all at once he realized again that he was alone on the beach, which could mean only one thing. He felt the coolness of the Darkness drape his body as his being slowly, much slower than usual, transformed into its dark form. The world became, as it always did, a blur of blacks and grays. Like a predator on the hunt, every small movement was amplified and he watched in horror as Shouka's small body fell from the demonesque claws. Sora's dream self did not move to pick up the child as he once again began to cry. The earth shook under Sora's feet and his eyes looked out at the dark ocean. He did nothing but stand there, the strands of darkness wisping off of his body, as shadow versions of himself crept up from the surface of the sea. Three crawled onto land and grabbed at the baby, dragging him and their bodies back to the depth. Shouka's cries grew louder as he neared the waters edge._

Sora shot up in bed, beads of sweat formed on his brow. He was gasping for breath as he looked down at his hands to make sure they were not cased in darkness., His brother was crying in the next room. Slowly, Sora slid out of bed, steadying himself against the nightstand. Exhaling he tried to put the dream from his mind. He assured himself he would be a fine brother, that the dream meant nothing at all, and with that, he left his room and followed the smell of fresh baked cookies down the stairs.

By now the sun was on its way past the horizon. Sora found his mother in the kitchen, sliding gooey cookies off a cooking sheet and onto a plate. She smiled and offered the plate to her son as he entered the room. He swore he caught a glimpse of a guilty look on her face, but he said nothing but thank you and took a cookie. The warm taste reminded him of Radiant Garden and Aerith, who had baked the three of them a batch of cookies before they headed out for the last time.

It was slowly dawning on him that everything here reminded him of his journey. _I just need time, _he told himself again and enjoyed the rest of the treat, his mind focused solely on the melted chocolate his mouth contained. It was the one of the only times in his life his mother had given him desert before supper, and as he popped the last morsel into his mouth he couldn't have been more thankful.

At the table the conversation remained short and light. They did not touch on Sora's sudden return home or even how much they missed him, save for his mother's occasional smiles at him. They spoke about the family store and how business was going well, about how the fish were plentiful this season and how the weather was unusually pleasant. Sora's father did most of the talking, trying to fill the silence that would otherwise have hung heavy in the air around them. Sora ate well, still somewhat famished from his final battles in the World that Never Was. When he was finished he excused himself and took his plate to the sink. "Mom, Dad, can I go see how Riku is doing?"

"Oh, is Riku home too?" Sora's father, Masato, asked a hint of surprise in his voice. Sora nodded "Mika must be so relived," he said of Riku's mother. Ren was hesitant to let her son leave the house so soon after he returned to it. She begged him to be safe, even though his best friend's house was only a few blocks away and the walk was one Sora had taken a hundred times before. Sora thanked them and left the house out the front door starting down the road his feet still remembered by heart.

Sora's feet sped up as Riku's house came into view. The lights were on in his friend's room and in the kitchen, the latter casting a shadow on the porch outside the front door. Sora noticed a figure rocking back and forth in the rocking chair at the corner of the covered wooden deck. As he neared, the figure rose from its seat and stepped closer to him. It was Riku's mother. The lighting was behind her so Sora could not make out the expression on her face, but she seemed unsteady. "Mrs. Hirokawa, is everything alright?" Sora called out to Riku's mother as he neared her. There was a recognizable sob from the woman and her whole frame seemed to shake along with it.

"Could that be you, Sora?" She managed in a voice just loud enough for Sora, who was now about five feet away, to hear.

"Yea, it's me. What's wrong?" Sora's mind both actively searched for an explanation and at the same time part of him tried to avoid any thoughts of what could be the matter. "Is Riku all right?" he found himself asking. He didn't even know if Riku had actually gone home. When he had left him at the docks the older teen still seemed unsure.

"Oh, Sora!" Mika Hirokawa was now near enough for Sora to make out her tear stained face in the moonlight. "What do I do? He thinks it's his fault. He locked himself in his room and-" Her speech was broken off by a shuddering breath.

"Mrs. Hirokawa, I'm sorry, I don't know what you're talking about. What does he think is his fault?" Sora was sure he already knew the answer, but he didn't want to say the wrong thing, so he waited to hear it from the woman's mouth.

"Forgive me, I forgot, you- you must have just returned as well." She was struggling to maintain control of her voice. "Come, let's sit down on the porch." Sora nodded and the two walked back to the deck in silence. When they were both seated, Mika continued. "The night of the Great Disaster, when the darkness came," She paused and took in a deep breath. The Great Disaster. Kairi had told them that was the night the Islands were destroyed. Sora was already thinking of ways to approach his best friend. Mika exhaled and spoke. "Riku's father went out to find him, and- and-" Another sob. "He never made it back."

Sora froze. He hadn't expected this. No wonder Riku had locked himself in his room. Had Sora been in his best friend's place- Many times Sora had tried to imagine what Riku was feeling, but he never seemed to be able to understand how his friend's mind worked. When it came down to it, he could not imagine himself in Riku's position. He had his own run-ins with Darkness, but they could not compare. Even alone with Riku on that dark beach, even when he had felt the weight of the Darkness on his own shoulders, he could not imagine how Riku had felt. Nevertheless, he knew he was the only one who could talk to Riku now.

"I'll go talk to him." Sora tried to sound both caring and resolute.

Mika gave him a grateful smile. "Thank you, Sora, you truly are a great friend to my Riku." Sora nodded and pushed open the door to the house.

The staircase stretched out in front of the entrance way, just as it did in Sora's own house. They seemed to be taller than they really were with the daunting task that lay ahead for the brown haired boy. With a deep breath he started up. When he reached Riku's door, which as the top of the stairs, he paused. He couldn't hear anything inside. Slowly he placed his fist to the door in a light knock. There was no answer. "Riku, please open up. It's me." Sora tried not to sound desperate. He could tell he wasn't doing a very good job. "Please, Riku."

"Go away, Sora," came a muffled voice from behind the door.

"Riku please. I don't want to have to talk through the door."

"Then don't"

"Riku..."

There was silence. Sora glanced behind him. The door was still shut. Riku's mom had not come in yet. "Riku. Your mom is outside. I don't want to talk through the door." He repeated this time in a loud whisper.

There was a pause, then a click. Sora turned the knob and pushed the door open, then shut it behind him. Riku was sitting at inner corner of his mattress, facing the wall, so most of his body was hidden by a wall from the doorway. Sora carefully approached the bed and sat gently on the corner next to his friend. While Sora was still searching for the right opening words, Riku spoke in a dead voice.

"How many did I kill, Sora? My own father..." he trailed off.

"Riku..." Sora reached out his hand to place it on his friends shoulder, but reconsidered, letting his palm fall gently to the mattress.

"I killed people. Lots of people. I opened the door. The Heartless... I brought them here, and other worlds, too. How many lives did I end?" Sora had never heard this story before. He had long suspected that it had been Riku who opened the door, ever since he successfully stole the keyblade in Traverse Town. Sora saw Riku tighten his firsts then flinch in what seemed like pain, releasing his left hand. "A murderer. Nothing less, maybe more. You should just leave Sora. You're a hero." Riku's head fell to his chest.

"So are you!" Sora responded quickly. He was on the verge of tears and he felt childish for it. Riku untightened his other fist, letting his muscles breathe. "If you hadn't done what you did, then how would I have been able to save the worlds?" When he got no response, Sora tried again. "We were able to stop Xemnas. The Organization. They were probably behind all of this. I, we got there thanks to you. If you hadn't been there, hadn't risked your life for me, nothing I did would have mattered." He looked over at his friend as a small tear fell out of the corner of his eye. There was a second of silence, then Riku looked up. Sora sighed. There was a small hint of a smile on the older teen's face

"Thanks, Sora."

* * *

A/N: Alright, so, out of 22 views of the second chapter, only one person, orphen chica, reviewed. Thank you orphen chica. Hopefully more people will review this chapter. An author can only hope.


	4. Now I Lay Me Down

**A/N: **This fourth chapter is a little on the shorter side. But good things can come in small packages, right? Please R&R and of course, Enjoy. Thanks to Sunpikachu for Beta work, as always.

**Disclaimer:** No matter how much Kingdom Hearts stuff I buy, they aren't going to hand over the rights…

* * *

**Home**

_Chapter Four_: Now I Lay Me Down

The night air blew in from Riku's open window. It was cool and had a strange sweet, yet salty smell to it, like seasalt ice cream.

Sora hadn't stayed long. Riku hadn't wanted to keep him from his parents after all those months. It wasn't fair to them. Sora had wanted to stay longer but Riku wouldn't hear it.

It had taken the silvery-haired teen about an hour alone before he was able to face his mother. She had been at the kitchen table sipping from a mug. It was one that Riku had painted as a child. The colors, with shaky lines, seemed to form three stick figures and a heart. The sight had almost made him turn around. No words were exchanged between the two of them. Riku had simply approached his mother and the two embraced. Had he spoken, he would have been forced to lie.

He had taken a shower and his hair was still slightly damp against the pillow. The steam and warm water had calmed and cleansed him and he thought perhaps he would be able to sleep that night. It was useless. He had been laying down like this in the dark for what seemed like hours, but was actually closer to thirty minutes. He had conditioned himself not to relinquish control of him body, even to sleep. With a sigh he rolled over and slid his bare feet onto the cool wooden floor, pulling the thin white sheet off the bed with them. He stood up and threw the sheet aside back onto the mattress.

The wind from the window swept around his half naked frame sending a chill through his bare torso. He folded his arms across his middle. His left forearm was still covered, as it had been since the day DiZ had found him, barely alive and alone. He walked to the door that lead to the small balcony jutting off of his room over the ocean, pain returning to his side as he walked. Unfolding his arms, he pulled the windowed door open and stepped out into the pleasant gusts of the night.

He laid his arms lazily over the banister and stared out across the sea. Despite the wind, the water itself was rather calm that night. Riku watched the wavelets vanish underneath the floor of the balcony and listened to them lap at the shore underneath him. Absentmindedly he found himself playing with the edges of the white covering on his arm with his right hand. He slowly rolled the fabric down to his wrist and stared at the skin underneath. Running almost vertically a deep, unnaturally dark colored scar stained his pale skin.

He ran his fingers up and down its surprisingly smooth surface. It felt strange, like a slight tingling sensation as he glossed over the dead nerve endings. He tightened his left fist and a jolt of pain ran through his forearm, just as it had earlier that night. He knew it would never heal properly. DiZ had told him as much. It wasn't a regular scar either. It throbbed with the darkness in his heart, which gave it its strangely dark color. And he could never explain it to Sora or Kairi. The story hurt too much. Even as he rolled up the cloth he struggled to push it from his mind.

Instead he thought of the blonde haired Nobody who had sat with him as he recovered. What had become of her now? Was there anything left of Namine's smile of false melancholy behind Kairi's joyous one? He was sure there was. He could feel it. Last night when they were together on the beach, he could smell it. Roxas and Namine. They were part of his best friends now. He wasn't sure he completely understood it, or that he was fully comfortable with it, but it was the way things were.

Roxas's face flashed before him. Did Sora's Nobody ever forgive the silvery-haired teen for what he had done? Could he see that what Riku had done had been necessary? Every time he looked at his best friend, he would have to face Roxas as well. He hoped there was some way to make peace with the Nobody.

A cool breeze glided across the ocean, blowing through Riku's hair. It felt good. His hair was quite long now, longer than it had been when he had forgone it for Ansem's. It fell into his eyes. He would have to cut it eventually. The thought made the corners of his lips turn up slightly. Now he could think of such trivial things as how short he wanted his hair to be. He took a deep breath of the seasalt air, leaned against the wall of the house, and slowly slid down until his knees were against his chest. He continued to watch the waves through the bars of the railing.

He thought about the King, about Mickey. He was home too now, and Donald, and Goofy. There was probably celebration at the castle. They didn't have to pretend. They were lucky.

He was so lost in his own thoughts that he did not hear the footsteps in the hall or the sound of the doorknob turning. It wasn't until the door creaked open and sent a ray of light from the hall across his room that his neck snapped around. Instinctively, his fist tightened and he could feel the weight of the Way to Dawn materialize in his hand reaching out over the ocean.

The doorway revealed Mika dressed in a nightgown and a dressing robe. Her silver hair fell about her shoulders. Riku's heart seemed to skip a beat as he tossed the keyblade over the edge hoping that it would vanish before splashing into the water and moreover that it would not return to his hand. He let out a heavy breath as he felt the blade disappear. It was strange how he could sense it, as if the sword were a part of him, but he knew it vanished, probably just before hitting the water.

"Riku, honey?" Riku's mother took a step into the room.

Riku pushed himself to his feet and stepped into view of the open door to the balcony. "Yeah, Mom?" he said with a small smile and a fake yawn.

She smiled back. "I was just checking on you, that's all. It's late, are you alright? Can I get you something?"

"I'm fine Mom. Honest." He knew why she was there. It was all so surreal for the both of them.

Mika shifted uncomfortably. There was more that she wasn't telling him, he knew it.

"Mom, whatever it is, I'd rather find out from you." That was part of it. He didn't want her to have to keep secrets from him, and he wanted to find out as soon as possible what had happened.

She looked at her son. Her eyes, even in the dark, were visibly full of concern. "It's Kairi. I should tell you, she's-"

Riku let out a laugh in relief. "She's fine, Mom. When Sora and I woke up, she was there too." He leaned against the door frame.

"What happened? Where were you? So long..." She faded out on the verge of tears.

"I don't remember. After the storm, there's nothing. I'm sorry." The lie wasn't as hard to tell as he thought it would be.

Mika's disappointment quickly faded into a smile. "Then we'll have to start from where we left off."

Snippets of everything that had happened played through his head. None of it mattered here or now. Now he would start from where he had left off, just like she said. "I guess we will."

Mika retreated to the entrance way and closed the door halfway until Riku could only see one side of her body. "Goodnight. I love you." She was almost whispering as if Riku were already in bed with his eyes shut.

"Love you, too," he replied. As the door closed, he continued to stare straight ahead. "Love you, too." He whispered again softly. At that moment, he really felt it was true. He did love her. But had he loved her when he had stepped into the Darkness the night of the storm? _We may never see our parents again,_ he had told Sora. He had been thinking about her, sure, but he had been willing to leave her behind without so much as a goodbye.

And did he love her when he had embraced the Darkness? At first he had compared her to Maleficent. Was that love? Then, over time, the thought of his family came up less and less. He never forgot them, but he had given up the hope of ever seeing them again. Did he love her then? He did not know. All he knew is that now, he loved her. She cared about him. Really and truly cared about him. She wanted him to be happy. She loved him. And that was enough.

Riku entered the room and shut the door to the balcony behind him. He sat down on the bed, draping the sheet over his legs. A wave of exhaustion hit him suddenly, days and nights of sleeplessness finally catching up with him. He felt his eyelids grow heavy. He let himself lie down and pull the sheet over his tired body. He tilted his head out towards the room. It was strangely familiar still.

He sighed and turned towards the wall. Tricks of his fatigue and the dim light danced before his eyes and he forced them shut. It felt nice to close his eyes. His body had been begging him to do just that for so long now and he had refused. Still he forced them open again, but he was fighting a losing battle. His body felt like lead and his eyes began to roll to the back of his head in sheer exhaustion. He tightened his fists and breathed deeply. He couldn't fall asleep. He just couldn't. It was too dangerous. His fists relaxed on their own accord and his eyelids lowered.

Fear washed over him. He waited for Ansem's mocking voice in his head, but it did not come. Nevertheless he pushed his heavy body to a sitting position, and promptly collapsed against the wall. He could no longer manage to keep his eyes from rolling back or his lids from falling down. Part of him had given in already and the rest of him had no chance. Within minutes, he was asleep, leaning against the wall.

* * *

**A/N:** I want to thank the people who reviewed, which was actually a whole 7th of the people who viewed the chapter. So thank you _orphen chica_ (again),_ Caelestis Angel_, and my anonymous reviewer who signed as "Ri2". Thank you all. The next chapter will either be up within the next few days, or not for at least a month, as I will be away. So long!


	5. Lean on Me

**A/N:** So, I'm back, and so then is this story. R&R as always, and as always, thanks to Sunpikachu for looking this thing over. Oh, and I changed my pen name. I'll tell you why at the end of the chapter.

**Disclaimer: **If I owed the rights to this game, I would know all about Birth by Sleep and 358/2 and… but I have no rights, so I know as much as anyone else with internet…

* * *

**Home**

_Chapter Five:_ Lean on Me

Riku woke up gasping for air. He could sense the remnants of a dream or nightmare slipping from his mind as his eyes scanned the room around him. For a second, he did not know where he was, then he remembered. He remembered everything that had happened in the past two days, and that he was home, in his old room again. In his sleep, he had moved from a sitting position to a more comfortable one, laying horizontally on the bed. He had caught his breath by the time he noticed the blue light coming in from the window. It was dawn again, that strange in-between time when most of the world is still asleep, yet signs of the new day already begin to stir.

Riku sat up, leaving the sheet that had somehow managed to make its way over his body wrapped across his torso. His gaze found the clock on the wall. It was a little after five in the morning. Riku twisted his legs over the edge of the bed. The movement was accompanied by a stabbing pain in his side that sent him onto his back with a sharp breath. He tried again to sit up, but the pain now prevented him from moving much at all. He slid the sheet off of his body and glanced at the origin of the pain. His whole side was covered in a rather nasty-looking bruise. He sighed, then with a deep inhale, forced himself into a sitting position, propped up against the wall at his head. He knew he would eventually have to force himself completely out of bed and decided to do it sooner rather than later.

The endeavor ended rather badly with Riku cursing in pain as he collapsed onto the wooden floor of his room. The sound must have been loud enough to reach the end of the hall, because soon enough, Riku heard footsteps coming towards his door. As the knob turned, he pulled the sheet off the bed and wrapped it around the his bruised body. Mika entered, signs of sleepiness still present on her face.

"Is everything alright?" She asked, finding her son posed awkwardly on the floor next to his bed.

There was no way to explain his position without showing her the massive bruise on his side, and there was no way to explain the bruise at all. Exhaling, he decided he might as well show her, seeing no other way out of his present situation. As he unwrapped the sheet from about his torso, Mika gasped.

"What happened?" She demanded, her voice ringing with concern.

"I'm not sure." Riku answered. These lies were just going to have to become a part of life. "It hurt yesterday, too."

"I'll go see what we have. Hold on." She returned soon with a white medicine bottle in one hand and a glass of water and a tube of cream in the other.

The pills would take about fifteen minutes to start working, Mika had said, but the cream, which she explained worked like ice, started working rather quickly. With his mother's help, Riku got to his feet. Instinctively, he shifted his weight off his left leg.

"Can you walk?" Mika asked.

"I doubt it." He carefully shifted weight back onto his injured side and flinched as pain once more shot down his lower back and leg. He explained this to his mother and she paused for a moment, thinking.

"I wonder if you damaged a nerve. You'd best stay off that leg. I have a pair of crutches that they were getting rid of at the hospital." Mika worked as a nurse at the hospital on the main island. "The pads are a bit old, but we can improvise." She smiled. Riku could tell how much she missed playing this motherly role. Mika left again leaving Riku alone with his thoughts.

She was so kind, so caring. He couldn't help thinking of how much pain he put her through. He tried not to think of his father, but it was no use. The thought had been conjured and here was no getting rid of it.

He had had shoulder length black hair, pin straight like his wife and son's. He had been a good foot taller than Riku when he had last seen his father. Haruto Hirokawa, father, husband, friend... and now he was dead. Riku tried to replay his conversation with Sora over in his head, but the image of his father covered in Heartless persisted in his mind. The teen let his head fall to his chest as he whispered an apology into the air.

Mika's footsteps echoed in the hall and Riku lifted his head and put on a fake look of indifference, something he was quite good at. His mother entered carrying a pair of wooden crutches, a smile on her lips.

"I taped some towels on the top so they should be more comfortable." She tilted the top of one towards her son so her could see. "Your grandmother did that for me when I broke my ankle. Oh, how old was I? Must have been when I was around your age. You're sixteen now, aren't you?" Riku nodded. There was a pause, then Mika extended the crutches in his direction. "Here. Get a feel for them."

Riku had seen people use crutches before. Tidus had broken his leg once a long time ago, and Riku had even tried them out. He fit them under his arms. They were a little short. Seeing this, Mika knelt down and adjusted the height. She looked up grinning. "You really have grown." She stood up. For the first time, he could see that he was now taller than his mother.

"Thanks," he said, trying out the crutches again. They fit more comfortably this time.

--

"Are you sure you're okay?" Mika called from the opened door, a large purse slung over her shoulder.

Riku sighed from his place at the kitchen table. "Yeah, Mom, I'm sure." He stirred his cereal absentmindedly.

She turned towards the kitchen. "Because I don't need to go in to work today. They'll understand." She wanted to stay home with him, he knew this. And it wasn't that he didn't want to spent time with her. It was just that life couldn't go on like that. She needed to go back to work, and eventually, he would need to go back to school. The sooner everything went back to normal, the better.

"I'll be okay. I'm sure they need you over there." He would get up to hug her goodbye if standing wasn't such a hassle. He tried to let her know this in his smile.

"Alright. I won't be home too late, around eight. There's plenty of food in the pantry." She smiled weakly. "I missed you so much."

"I missed you too."

With that, Mika was out the door, and Riku found himself feeling almost relieved. Things were going to go back to normal, as normal as they could be. He finished his cereal with that thought in mind.

It took a good deal longer than Riku would have liked to clean up after breakfast, but finally, the task was complete, and he was only in a moderate amount of pain from it. He fitted the crutches as comfortably as was possible underneath his arms and exited the kitchen.

On his right, the stairs extended up to his room. His eyes traced them from bottom to top. He wasn't going to climb them unless it was absolutely necessary, he decided. On his left was the door leading outside. From the cool gusts of wind that had welcomed themselves inside while Mika had held the door open, Riku guessed the weather was rather temperate today. Besides, he thought looking down at his arms, he was incredibly pale. Perhaps some sunlight wasn't such a bad idea.

Opening the door was a bit tricky, but after that, the one stair down from the front porch didn't give him much trouble. He finally sat down at the side of his house where the edge of the building met a small beach. He positioned himself so that the water just kissed his toes, and laid the crutches beside himself. With a sigh he leaned back onto the sand and listened to the ocean's quiet hushing noises. Things would go back to normal soon, he told himself again. He ignored the nagging feeling that rose up inside of him at the thought and dug his fingers into the warm sand.

Presently, he heard footsteps and rolled his head to the side to see Sora bounding down the road. _So much for a relaxing morning_, Riku thought. Part of him, though, was thankful for Sora's arrival. Perhaps the other teen would keep Riku's mind from wandering as much. He pushed up to a seated position, not, of course, without his side complaining. He watched in amusement as Sora, whose gaze was intent on the door of his best friend's house, completely missed Riku sitting to the side.

"Over here." Riku called as Sora raised his hand to knock on the door. The brunet's head whipped around as his body gave a slight jump.

"Woah, Riku, you scared me!" He pivoted on the ball of his oversized shoe and headed off the wooded porch.

"After all you've been through, I thought it would take more than that," The older teen chuckled as Sora neared the place he was sitting.

"Are those crutches?" Sora said ignoring his best friend's comment. Riku nodded. "You're on crutches?" Riku nodded again. Sora opened his mouth to ask a third question but closed it before saying anything. His friend could tell he had put two and two together.

"Guess I really owe you a thank you." Sora plopped himself down on the sand next to his best friend.

Riku shook his head. "I owed you." They sat silently for a while, staring at the sea that stretched out in front of them.

"Kairi called." Sora spoke finally. "She's worried about you. You know..." Riku knew. He knew why Kairi had paused awkwardly so many times that night. He knew how hard it was for her knowing that his father was dead and knowing that as soon as Riku got home, he'd learn that truth.

"What'd you tell her?" Riku didn't turn to face his friend.

"I told her I talked to you, and that you were fine. I don't think she believes me, though." Sora dug his fingers into the sand. "We should probably go see her."

"Yeah." Riku turned to Sora with a smile. It wasn't a completely genuine smile, but it wasn't totally fake. Part of the falsity of it was the knowledge that the Mayor's house was a good seven or eight minute walk from his house. At least it was the mayor of this Island who had adopted her and not the mayor of one the more northern Islands. He would feel weird making Sora do the rowing by himself if that were the case.

Sora hopped to his feet and offered a hand to Riku. The other boy shook his head slightly and, with a bit of difficulty due to the unsteadiness of the sand, pushed himself up with the crutches.

"We're not walking all the way to Kai's, Riku, don't worry." Sora smiled back at his friend as they started down the road. Riku was a bit confused, but more relieved. He face showed a strange combination of both that made Sora giggle. "She came over to my house after she called." They walked a little further, then Sora spoke again. "Oh, and I have another surprise for you, but I'm not telling. You'll have to wait and see." Sora was sure that Shouka would like Riku.

The way to Sora's was much shorter and soon the pair turned the corner onto his block.

The sight of Sora's house gave Riku a feeling of comfort that he didn't feel at home right now. Sora raced ahead and opened the unlocked door. Riku followed as fast as he could without toppling over his crutches. Even with them, sudden movements hurt, but he would grit his teeth slightly and keep going.  
Riku finally made it to the open doorway and managed his way up the step into the house. It smelled like a bakery inside. Riku's mother cooked well, but Sora's mother, Ren, was a master chef, especially when it came to baking.

Riku had barely stabilized himself when Kairi came in from the living room with a baby in her hands. The sight confused the older teen, but Sora, who had followed Kairi out, did not leave him unsure for long.

"Riku, this is my baby brother, Shouka," he said proudly. "He likes Kairi." This was evident on the baby's face. It was filled with a wide open smile. Cute small noises bumbled out of the baby's mouth.

Kairi looked at Riku with a sad smile as she let Shouka tug on he pinkie. "Hey, Riku." Her voice reflected the look on her face.

Just then, the oven let out a ding and Riku could hear Ren take whatever it was she had been baking out of it. She entered the room, sliding her oven mitts off her hands. "Riku!" She must not have heard Kairi mention his name. Her eyes widened and a smile appeared on her face. "My, you've gotten tall!" She put a hand to her mouth and paused, looking him over. Riku let her and said nothing. Finally she spoke. "I'm sorry. It's just, we didn't know if you were..." She trailed off and glanced at the floor. "Well, I'd better be off to the store. Sora's father called, and he needs some help. There are some fresh cookies on the table. When they cool off, feel free to have some." With that, Ren made her way past the teenagers and out the door, closing it behind her.

Alone again, save for baby Shouka, the three of them paused. It was Kairi that spoke first. "Riku, I'm so sorry. I didn't want to be the one to tell you." She was about to cry, Riku could hear it in her voice.

"It's okay, Kai. It wasn't your job to tell me." He looked passed her at the wall. "I'm fine now though." That was partly a lie. He didn't think all of it would ever be fine, but Sora had allowed him to move on, for now.

"Riku, you should sit." Sora changed the subject. The older teen nodded thankfully and moved over to a fabric chair. Sora and Kairi sat on the couch across from him. Shouka, who was still in Kairi's arms, yawned.

From where he sat. Riku couldn't help but imagine a day when his two friends would be sitting the same way with a child of their own. It was inevitable really, and it didn't bother him anymore. In fact, they were a cute couple. It was only a matter of time before they noticed this too.

"Wanna hold him?" Sora asked his best friend. Riku nodded. Kairi brought the child over to the silvery-haired teen and showed him how to hold his arms. Riku copied what Kairi showed him and soon found himself holding baby Shouka.

For a few seconds, the child looked confused, glancing up at Kairi, then at Riku. Then he started to cry. Great. "Am I doing something wrong?" Riku asked Kairi.

"Try rocking him gently." She suggested.

Riku did. The crying didn't stop.

The child turned his face from Riku's and grabbed desperately in Kairi's direction.

"I don't think he likes me," Riku sighed, still rocking the baby back and forth.. It felt horrible to say. How could his best friend's baby brother not like him? Why? He had never seen the child before, yet the baby seemed to harbor some innate hatred, fear, or, at the very least, distaste for him.

"I'm sure he's just sleepy or something," Kairi assured him.

"Maybe you should take him back." Riku offered the crying child to the redhead. Kairi hesitantly took Shouka back into her own arms. The second the baby left the older teen's hands, the crying stopped. All three of them looked down.

"It's fine. Whatever." Riku didn't look up. While there were probably hundreds of more logical reasons, Riku was sure that the reason Shouka cried in his arms had something to do with who Riku was, what he was. Riku was sure that the child somehow sensed the darkness in his heart and that was the reason for the baby's discomfort. He said nothing of this to Sora or Kairi, of course.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Kairi asked, the child now calm and content once more in the arms of the Princess of Heart.

Riku sighed. "Listen, Kai, things aren't going to be perfect right away, but I'll get used to the way they are now. It'll take time. It'll take time for all of us, even you."

Sora, he could see, was nodding in agreement. "Everything reminds me of it now," the brunet said. "You know, the journey, the worlds..." He stared past his friends nostalgically, and it had only two dayssince they had returned.

Kairi kept her eyes on the floor. Riku knew what she was thinking and what she would never admit. It never went away for her. She always thought about it, the whole time she was alone on the Islands. Of course, things were different for her. She had at least remembered Riku was out there. She had known it wasn't over. It was over now. It was over now, right? He wished the whole of him believed it.

"So, uh, how's your mom?" Sora asked Riku, changing the subject. Leave it to Sora, to the nearly ever happy Sora to save the trio from the trench of silence.

"She's fine. She went off to work. I didn't want her to miss time at the hospital for me."

"Ah." Sora glanced around the room, looking for something to save the once again dying conversation. It had never been like this before, had it?

"Sora," Kairi looked up, the baby once more pulling on her pinkie lazily, "there is something you need to know as well."

* * *

A/N Thank you to everyone that reviewed. Truly, thank you. As for why I changed my pen name, the Twilight series is to blame for that. Whether or not I like those books, something I won't say, I write KH fanfiction, not Twilight fanfiction. So there you have it. Hope you liked the chapter! I'll try not to keep you waiting for too long.


	6. Forget Me Not

**A/N:** Well, I finally got the next chapter up. Sorry for the wait, and I am glad you're still willing to read (hopefully). Thanks always to my beta, Sunpikachu. Here it is: Chapter 6!

**Disclaimer:** If it were up to me, BBS and Days would be coming out sooner. And Coded would work for my cell phone. Obviously I don't own any rights.

* * *

**Home**

_Chapter Six:_ Forget me not

Sora took a deep breath. Could whatever Kairi was alluding to hold the same gravity as the death of Riku's father? No one else had died, had they? His mind and stomach swam with equally uneasy feelings. The thought that there was something his parents weren't telling him, that there was something they were hiding, came back at full force. He swallowed hard.

The brunet glanced over at Riku for a clue, something, anything. The other teen's face offered no answers. In fact, Riku looked as unsure of what their friend was going to say next as Sora himself. He turned back at Kairi. She was no longer looking at him but at his brother, his innocent, unweathered brother. She was smiling at the child, but her smile bore a certain sadness that Sora was sure had to do with what she had to tell the baby's sibling.

"What is it, Kai?" he said, trying not to show his anxiety in his voice to no avail. Sora could tell that she regretted bringing the topic up at all. Such a look of pain crossed the girl's face, something so much beyond the regret that seemed appropriate, that Sora felt his stomach knot.

"Kairi, please, tell me." She said nothing, but sat back down on the couch, her head bowed against her chest. She rocked the child more slowly, pausing for a split second at the end of each arc, as if unsure how to continue the simple motion.

"Please..." Sora reached over and placed a hand under her chin. She could do nothing to stop him; Shouka passively occupied her arms. She turned her head to the side and he pulled his hand back.

"You're...you're crying..." He rubbed his now wet thumb and forefinger together, messaging her tear into his skin. She turned her body away from him and placed Shouka against her shoulder. Sora could see the baby's head bouncing up and down as Kairi tried to calm herself by calming the boy. He heard her take a deep sigh and let it out in a shaky exhale. Almost silently she whispered something as if she were talking to Shouka.

"Kairi..." What followed all but spewed out of the brunet's mouth, one word hard to distinguish from the next. "Please-tell-me-because-someone-is eventually-going-to-tell-me-and-I-want-you-to-be-the-one-to-tell-me-because-" He stopped himself.

_Because nothing you say could ever hurt me. Because I-_

"I can't." Kairi choked out. "I can't-- I-" She turned to Riku, her eyes pleading. Sora watched. He couldn't think of anything else to do. His two friends' gazes met across the carpet.

"Tell him." Kairi whispered, or rather, it was Kairi's lips that whispered it, but something about the urgency and desperation in the voice didn't seem to match. Her lips mouthed something, which from his angle, Sora wouldn't have been able to understand had he been able to read lips in the first place. Then she stood up and walked robotically into the kitchen, still with the child on her shoulder.

Sora let his eyes follow her out, then he looked back at Riku. The older teen shifted in his chair, flinching in the pain even that slight movement seemed to cause him.

"Naminé-" he began, then started over. "When you chose to go to sleep, to regain your memories-" He took a deep breath, giving Sora a chance to jump in.

He opened his mouth to say something just before realizing that he had nothing to say. He didn't even know what Riku was talking about. He had been asleep, yes, he remembered waking up, but what was this about memories? His expression must have betrayed his confusion because Riku's face fell in response.

"It's a story for another time," was all he said. Sora opened his mouth again. What was a story for another time? He wanted to know now. Suddenly, he, the hero of the worlds, the one who had seen it all, was the one in the dark. Just as he was about to speak, a small sob from the kitchen silenced him. He closed his lips and looked towards his best friend with wide, helpless eyes.

"Sora, there is no easy way to tell you this, or to explain it to you." If the situation had been different, Sora would have though Riku was talking down to him.

"You were asleep for a year to rebuild your memories. In the process, links had to be broken, not just in your heart, but in the hearts of everyone who ever knew you."

Finally Sora spoke. "You mean..." Suddenly he remembered what Leon had said about _remembering_ him. "Everyone forgot me?" Riku nodded. A sharp cry came from the kitchen. It hurt Sora to hear Kairi so distraught. It hurt more not to fully understand why.

Now everything made sense, but that didn't make it any easier. He fell back against the sofa and stared blankly forward. Softly, he managed the necessary question. "They all remembered, right?"

Riku nodded. At least he had that. At least they all remembered him now. But how much had they all forgotten? Did they remember anything that had happened to the worlds? Who did they think had saved them? The thought stirred a sense of anger, a sense that some injustice was done to him, after all he went through for everyone.

"How could they all just forget..." The comment was meant to stay in his head, but somehow it escaped through his lips. Riku moved uncomfortably. Being physically unable to cross the room to his friend was clearly bothering him,

"It wasn't their fault, Sora."

"I know. I just wish I understood why."

It as then that Kairi came in, her face tearstained and her breathing uneven, Shouka still in her arms. He seemed to be asleep. Sora briefly wondered at the fact that once, he had been so innocent as well. She turned and addressed Riku alone. "I can't stay." Then there was a silence in which Sora guessed Kairi mouthed something to the other, but he could not be sure. Riku nodded. After a deep breath, she faced Sora. "I'm sorry." She handed the baby to his brother and left through the front door.

Shouka stirred and turned slightly in Sora's arms.

Riku spoke first. There was a soft smile on his face as he did so. "Do you understand what just happened? Could you tell?"

Sora didn't know what his friend was talking about, but he heard his own voice reply. "Naminé." It was only after he had heard the name that he understood.

"Now that she is with Kairi, she can truly feel sorry."

_Thank Naminé._

Is this what that mysterious message meant? Is this what he was supposed to thank Naminé for, rebuilding his memories? Even if he did not know how he lost these memories in the first place, he knew what he had to do. He wasted no time. With a quick glance at his best friend, he pushed himself off of the couch almost forgetting that he had his baby brother in his arms. He looked down at Shouka, who was now very much awake.

"I've got something to do, little brother," He said to the baby. "You and Riku have to learn to get along." With a smile he passed the child off to his best friend. Sora didn't wait to see his brother's response. He raced for the front door.

The world outside Sora's living room was much brighter and he had to squint in order to see though the warm midday sun. Kairi was only just visible and quite far down the road. Nearly instinctively Sora prepared to jump into a glide. Then he stopped himself. He had to be more careful about using his abilities, even if it meant running to catch up to his friend.

He started off down the road at a remarkable rate. As he neared the redhead, he called out.

"Kairi, wait!"

The girl quickened to a run, but she was no match for him. The distance between them shortened, and Kairi tried desperately to stay ahead, so much so that she tripped over her own shoes and fell, barely preventing her face from hitting the ground.

Sora jogged up behind her and offered her a hand. She looked up at him with a tearstained face that wasn't getting any drier. Without his help, Kairi crawled into a sitting position and dropped her head into her scraped hand. Her shoulders moved up and down as she continued to cry. Sora sat down next to her.

"Hey, Kairi, uh..." This was going to be awkward. How exactly was he supposed to thank the Nobody that existed inside of his friend? She turned her body away from him at the sound of his voice.

"Kai, I... made a promise to someone, and I..." he took a deep breath. "I guess I should just go ahead and keep it, huh?" Kairi answered by curling more tightly into herself. Sora tried hard not to think of how strange what he was about to say was, how strange the whole notion of Roxas and Naminé being part of them was.

"I wanted to say thank you, to Naminé." He tried to hide his nervousness.

Suddenly, through her tears, Kairi started to laugh. She laughed and laughed until she was gasping for breath, then turned a pair of reddened eyes that were only half her own towards the brunet.

"Here, let me help you up." Sora offered her his hand again. This time she took it, and the two teenagers stood up together.

Before Sora could wipe the dust off of his clothes, Kairi had all but fallen into his arms and the two somehow ended up in what was unmistakably a hug.

Kairi held him tightly as her breathing slowed. At first, Sora panicked, then much more quickly then he expected, and much more competently then the last time they had ended up like this, he relaxed into the embrace.

"Lets go back," Sora mumbled into the girl's ear. Kairi nodded, causing her soft hair to rub against his neck. It sent a chill down his spine, but not a bad chill, like he got from the cold walls of the Castle that Never was. It wasn't explainable, but this was definitely good sensation.

As if something unspoken had passed between their bodies, the two of them broke the hug simultaneously. Their eyes met for a split second, then, again together, they looked away. Kairi giggled, Sora blushed.

"You left Shouka with Riku, Right?" Kairi's voice was calm now, and somehow he knew she was smiling..

"Yeah," Sora said, overly aware of the redness on his cheeks.

"We better hurry back then."

"Yeah..."

He waited for her to start walking. When she didn't he turned his head to look at her. Kairi's cheeks were almost as red as he was sure his own were, but she was smiling, looking down as if in thought. Just then, he felt something touch his hand. He looked down to see Kairi lace her fingers between his.

* * *

**A/N:** Sorry again for taking so long. School has been a total pain. I can't guarantee when I will get the next chapter out, but thank you all who have kept reading and I hope you won't stop. Because I took so long, I have no right to complain about the lack of review. So I won't. Please review this time, though. I really appreciate feedback.


End file.
